


Physical Therapy

by scrawly_times



Series: Fins [3]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bilbo Remains In Erebor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 16:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14336136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawly_times/pseuds/scrawly_times
Summary: So swimming is good for helping injured muscles and bones to heal and recuperate.Dwarves don't swim, really.Bilbo wants to fix that, because these Ulmo damn royals are stubborn invalids.Oh, also, there's gay.





	Physical Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> I've actually had this written up for a while bcz i wanted to write this scene (It's hinted at in the as of yet unposted 6th chapter of Mountain Streams) since it's.... gay
> 
> Double the gay. Thorin and Bilbo are... figuring things out. Bofur and Fili are totally dating at this point. Kili is the token heterosexual. Oin makes a very brief appearance. 
> 
> It's 2 in the morning I'm gonna fix the tags when I'm on a comp later
> 
> Brief explanation for those new to fishy boi Bilbo: he has fins and gills but can turn into a hobbit, because ~magic~! Jk, it's an adaro thing. He has a sharp stabby horn. This fic takes place several months after the Battle of Five Armies and everyone got hurt real bad including Bilbo. Boom. 
> 
> I'm tired. Might update Mountain Streams sometime, if, you know, anybody ever actually like gave me any feedback on it or something. Idk. 1k hits and 10 comments kinda weighs on a per

“Are you alright?” Bilbo asked, already levered into the pool of water. He looked up at Thorin with a concerned expression that struck him right in the chest.

“I’m fine.” Thorin grunted, turning his eyes away from those wide pupils and towards the edge of the pool. Oin had helped him sit down near the edge and then fell back to help the princes, the traitor.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Bilbo said encouragingly, already drifting gingerly through the water to be near Thorin. “Plenty of hobbits prefer to just let themselves heal without water exercises-”

“I’m fine!” Thorin barked out, wincing when Bilbo’s fins splayed in a startled movement. “...I look ridiculous, crawling on the ground.” Thorin eventually said, refusing to look at the adaro.

“Oh you silly sod, you’re missing a _foot._ Ulmo, the mere fact that you _have_ feet is already ridiculous to me.” Fili and Kili snickered suspiciously in the back of the room before Thorin squinted back at them, the torchlights’ glare making it hard to find them to glare at them. “Oh you two hurry up and get over here already!”

Thorin opted to… _scoot_ his way over to the water’s edge while Bilbo was distracted scolding his nephews. His abdomen and shoulder were still hurting but he was capable of getting around despite everyone’s arguments. It was just his damn _foot_ that made everything a problem.

Bilbo briefly disappeared underwater and then popped up near the edge of the low hanging roof.

“Where does this water go?” He asked loudly, drifting back. Thorin was almost annoyed at how easily Bilbo managed to move even being compared to, as Fili had said, a “crumpled parchment” as far as his injuries went.

“No idea, but it’s fresh water that’ll go up to shoulder height like ye asked - without too much risk of anyone being swept away into a hole.” Oin shrugged. “Dwarves don’t swim too much and underground streams can be dangerous. Who _knows_ what dwarrow even had this room made. We’ve got smaller areas with less chance of drowning for access to drinking and bathing water.”

“Oh it’ll work,” Bilbo assured. “I was just curious. I might go exploring sometime when my tail is better.”

Thorin felt a deep sense of horror hit him at the idea of Bilbo drifting through cold and dark waters, blind and lost in the twisting tunnels unable to find his way back.

“No you’ll not!” Thorin nearly shouted. Bilbo’s fins flared at him _again_ but Bofur agreed by Fili’s side.

“He’s right, those tunnels are unmapped and twisting and turnin out the wazzoo, ye’d get lost almost instantly.” The miner nodded, looking incredibly strange without his hat on and only in breeches. The way he had a hand held very purposefully on Fili’s back had Thorin narrowing his eyes briefly.

“Then I’ll just bring a rope to find my way back.” Bilbo rolled his eyes carelessly and Thorin felt like nearly strangling him. “Please, you forget I don’t need to breathe air. And adaro are _very_ skilled at finding their way through water.” He shook his head and sighed. “But we can discuss that later. For now, come _on_ you three, get in the damn water. It’s not even that cold!”

Thorin took a deep breath and resisted the urge to snap back at him. Instead he swung his legs over the edge, wishing there were stairs or a railing at least to get into the water with. It still struck him as wrong when his bare left foot hit the water so much sooner than the stub of his right leg.

Bilbo was almost instantly at his side when Thorin pushed himself off the edge and splashed ungainly into the water. He tripped and fell immediately, pinwheeling unsteadily. Webbed hands were already at his sides helping his hands find the edge of the pool.

When Thorin’s head broke the surface of the water again it was to the sound of his nephews laughing loudly (or at least, wheezing loudly, since both of them were still injured too much to howl like they clearly intended to) and Bilbo’s soothing voice at his ear.

“It’s alright, slipping is _absolutely_ normal, you’re going to take a minute to get your balance,” Bilbo’s voice was such an oddity in his natural form, sounding like he was trying to speak Westron around an object in his mouth, but it calmed Thorin even though he could feel his cheeks burning red in anger and embarrassment. “Oh you two gits, stop laughing! You’re next and I doubt you’ll do any-”

Bilbo coming to his defense was unexpected and heartwarming.

But it turned out to be unnecessary, as Bofur grabbed Fili and began to cackle. Fili didn’t have warning to stop him in time before Bofur had shoved him all the way across the room and over the edge of the water. Then, while Kili wheezed painfully and Thorin started to chuckle, Bofur sprinted across the room and canonballed into the water.

“Ye’d better hope ya didn’t hurt his ribs any more with that!” Oin yelled, presumably at Bofur, while he tried to get Kili to stop laughing. The prince was leaned over and wheezing so much he might _actually_ hurt himself with his chest being injured still.

“Don't! Don't do that!” Kili managed. “It hurts too much to laugh!”

Fili came up from the water laughing loudly in between cursing Bofur out and letting out various exclamations of pain. The current was surprisingly strong when standing up to your shoulders in it and since Fili didn't even have full use of his legs he tipped over almost immediately once he was in. Bofur grabbed him and then _both_ of them nearly fell over, giggling and snorting like the pair of idiots they were.

Kili had to be helped in far more gently by Oin, but Bilbo was turning his attention to Thorin and pulling him away from his death grip on the edge.

“You'll be fine, I promise,” Bilbo soothed and ignored Thorin glaring at him. His voice quieted a bit and Thorin felt a bit of a shudder at the way Bilbo’s hands were holding onto his biceps, the adaro leaning over to whisper to him. “I _promise_ I've got you, Thorin.”

He couldn't help but realize how absolutely absurd this entire situation was. Thorin was balancing precariously on one foot, clinging to the side of a pool like it was life or death, while a strange aquatic creature whispered promises in his ear. If he were the type Thorin might feel the urge to laugh a little hysterically.

Instead, Thorin tried to ignore the rising warmth in his chest at Bilbo’s closeness and pried his fingers away at the adaro’s further urging.

Thorin only took a few awkward hops through the water before he was falling over again. Just like he'd said, Bilbo supported him easily. It was strange considering their height difference.  To keep Thorin from falling over in water that came up to his shoulder Bilbo had to duck below the water’s surface. Thorin kept having the irrational urge to grab him and pull him up before he drowned. It took a firm mental hand to remind himself that Bilbo couldn't drown and was, in fact, _meant_ to breathe under the water.

It was hard to move in the current. It was even harder to _stay still._ Thorin would finally start to catch his balance, straining to not fall over, then an arm would move out to catch his balance like he was on land and it would throw him off all over again. If he had two feet to stand on and he didn't feel like his abdomen was killing him from the strain, he could've managed it easily enough. But unfortunately he didn’t, and unfortunately he _did,_ so Thorin couldn’t manage it in the current.

He scowled briefly when he saw Bofur teasing Fili and making the blond swim to him. When Fili managed it Bofur gave him a small kiss on the lips. Thorin rolled his eyes, Kili whistling loudly behind the couple.

“You know, there’s several exercises and stretches I was going to teach you, but just figuring out how to stay in one spot seems to be enough of an exercise.” Bilbo said, poking his head out of the water with a certain amusement.

Thorin glared at him but the immediate dunking he had as he toppled over didn’t help his case in the slightest. 


End file.
